Patent GB-937928-A (GB)
Title: Hinge unit for seat with adjustable back rest
IPC: A47C1/026
Filed: 1960-08-10
Abstract: 937,928. Adjustable seats. STUTTGARTER KAROSSERIEWERK REUTTER & CO. G.m.b.H. Aug. 10, 1960 [Aug. 25, 1959 (2); March 29, 1960], No. 27676/60. Class 52 (2). [Also in Group XXV] A lockable seat hinge has two sets of members secured to the seat and back respectively and two sets of associated interengageable locking members, relative movement between first and second locking members taking place on the hinge unit axis, or parallel thereto, or having a component parallel to that axis. As shown in Fig. 3, the members 1<SP>1</SP>, 2<SP>1</SP> have central parts 1, 2 pivoted about the axis of bolt 5 and connected by tube 18. A disc 7 with toothed edge 9 is non-rotatably connected by stud 13 to the hub part 10 which is fixed to member 2 by screw 14, and a disc 6 with toothed edge 8 is fixed to member 1 by indentations 25, the teeth 8, 9 engaging each other to lock the hinge against rotation. The bolt 5 connected to handle 15 is threaded along part 5<SP>1</SP> and carries nut 11 such that, on rotation of the handle against the action of spring 17, the nut which is prevented from rotating by pin 49 draws the disc 7, whose axial movement is limited by rings 24, out of engagement with the disc 6. A spring 30 urges the seat back into the upright position. In modifications the screw 14 may be extended so that it acts as both the screw 14 and the locating stud 13, and the teeth 8, 9 may lie on a conical surface instead of being planar. In further modifications, the spring 17 may be replaced by a tension spring fixed to a lever on the tube 18 and to the casing 27, and the tube 18 instead of being concentric with the pivot axis 5 may be displaced, and be actuated by toothed wheels on the tube 18 and pivot bolt 5. In a yet further modification, Fig. 16, springs 43 are introduced on pins 13 to urge the discs 6, 7 into engagement and replace the rings 24 and spring 17. The disc 7 may then be actuated on both hinges by Bowden cables from a single control, thus replacing the tube 18, handle 15 and nut 12. In a second embodiment, Fig. 21, member 102 is connected to a seat back and member 101 to the seat and the toothed segments 108, 115 are fixed to members 102, 101 respectively. The teeth 109 of an axially sliding pinion are always engaged with teeth 108 and the teeth 116 may be moved into and out of engagement with teeth 115 against the action of spring 117. Two arrangements are described (Figs. 22-24, not shown) whereby the pinions are moved in opposite or the same directions to lock and unlock the hinge. In a third embodiment, Fig. 25, the toothed - sector 204 carried on arm 201 is engaged by a toothed locking member 205 which has a slot 214, Fig. 29, inclined to the plane containing the segment 204 so that when the member 207 is slid axially along the rod 209 the similarly inclined arm 207 moves the locking member 205 so that it disengages the segment 204. In a fourth embodiment, Fig. 34, the toothed segment 304, 314 fixed to members 301 attached to the seat back are engaged by toothed members 305, 315. The toothed member 305 is disengaged directly on raising handle 308 which also displaces the shaft 311 carrying the cam surface 313<SP>1</SP> which causes the member 315 to become disengaged.